Monday, December 5, 2011

Rudolpha

Today's name: Rudolpha (since Rudolph is nearly out of the question, but it's still Christmas time)

Pronunciation: ru-DOL-fah

Potential nicknames: Rudy, Dolly, Rue, Dolpha

Origin: You might be thinking reindeer, but Rudolpha is Old German, the feminine variant of Rudolph, meaning "famous wolf." While Rudolph has many variants, including Rolf, Rudy, Rudolpho, and Rollo, the girl's name Rudolpha is just that.

Popularity: In 2010 and 2011 there were no baby girls named Rudolpha (despite it's rare and cute nicknames). Don't expect it to rise in popularity this century, and it hasn't been popular for a very long time. For boys, Rudolph last ranked in 1992 at #994.

Fun fact: (1) Movie star Rudolph Valentino. (2) Rudolph "Rudy" Giuliani, former mayor of New York. (3) King Rudolph I of Germany. (4) Gerald Rudolph Ford, a past U.S. president. (5) As a surname, and the only famous female namesake, Maya Rudolph, a comedienne, who has children named Jack, Pearl and Lucille. (6) Rudolph Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine. (7) Saint Rudolph. (8) Do I really have to mention Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?

I would say it's an aquired taste, and it would be alongside "clunky but cool" names like Claudia, Agnes, or Ida. I happen to like it because of the "u." I *love* the letter u in names. Ursula is one of them, so is Eudoxia, both not so well liked by the majority. I also recently rediscovered Utena from an old show I used to watch.

About Me

If you'd like help finding a particular name or meaning, want to suggest a name of the day, or need my advice on anything name related, please email me at rarebabynames@yahoo.com!

I combine information provided by the Social Security Administration, Think Baby Names, Parents Connect, historical references, and my own personal knowledge, to ensure that you will get all the information you need about each baby name I post.

I have also set up each post so that "today's name" could be a sibling to the last name I posted.